Abstract

South Asia has witnessed the rapid virtualization of the daily lives of the region's nearly two billion citizens, the increasing reliance of governments on the internet and digital technologies for their own functioning and delivering basic services to residents, and the growing policy mainstreaming of the paradigm of digital-led economic growth. Concurrently, threats from cyberspace—emanating from both state and non-state actors—have continued to rise, spreading across critical civilian sectors like banking, healthcare, and telecommunications. Despite regional rivalries and other drivers of cyber instability, the capitals of South Asia have outlined similar concerns and priorities: a safe and secure cyberspace for economic prosperity; the need to counter the new challenges posed by the intersection of cyber and existing security threats such as terrorism; and negotiating the contours of sovereignty in a fundamentally borderless cyberspace.